Garment and method of making the same



Jan. 24, 1939. o. 'J. EDELMA'NN GARMENT AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed ug. 1', 1958 a A Z 3 k INVENTOR Orra .1. 195 A Mfl/V I 9 Q m ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 24, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GARMENT AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Otto J. Edelmann, Englewood, N. J.

Application August 1, 1938, Serial No. 222.366

Claims.

garment portion from rolling and otherwise becoming displaced from its body confining, supporting, and molding position when the garment is-worn.

In garments of the general type to which the invention relates, a serious drawback is experienced by the wearer of such garment in that the cuff or band portion constituting the upper extremity of the garment is subject, particularly in the course of bodily-movements of the wearer, .for instance, in walking or bending, to a tendency to roll, as by the bending or turning over of the upper extremity of such portion. In order to overcome this disadvantage, it has been proposed to embody in the construction of such a garment, a plurality of stlfiening elements or stays disposed along the upper peripheral edges of the garment, but this proposed construction is characterized by certain disadvantages both in the fabrication of the garment and in the course of its use, as such stiffening elements or stays, being constituted of strips of boning, eventually work through the fabric material constituting the garment and expose the wearer of the garment to thedanger of having such protruding bone or stay irritate the flesh and otherwise become a source of discomfort. Furthermore, in the course of fabrication of the garment the stiffening elements or stays are disposed and secured to the garment fabric material in ,a manner and by a method which is expensive and still subject to the danger of disintegration of the fabric material. particuiarly near theends of such stiffening elements. Furthermore, in accordance with the prior art structures, such stiffening elements or stays are not capable of securement in the particular positions in which they are most eifectivefor carrying out their intended function of confining, supporting and molding the figure, as they are subject to displacement in movement within the" pockets within which they have been disposed.

In accordance with my invention, I effect the desired results, both in producing a garment of the general type indicated, by a method which is extremely simple in its application in the fabrication of the garment, thereby reducing to an appreciable extent the. cost of manufacturing such garment, and in the provision, in the final product, of a construction which eliminates all of the disadvantages, heretofore referred to, encountered in the wearing of the garment. Thus, in accordance with my invention, I produce a garment which is characterized by the absence of any friction of the stiffening elements or stays either at thetop or at the bottom extremities thereof, so that the bones constituting such stiffening elements or stays cannot, in the ordinary course of the wearing of the garment, work. their way through the fabric material adjacent their ends. In accordance with my novel structure, the bone constituting the stiffening element or stay is securely anchored by means of a duplex strip of tape along at least one side of the element and not, as in prior art structures, at the top and bottom thereof. a

My inventive structure and method, in their broadest aspects, comprise the fabrication, by the ordinary mode of knitting of the fabric which is to constitute the girdle, of a tubular element .which is open at its ends. This tubular element, in the finished garment, is .to constitute the cuff or band portion near the upper extremity of the garment. The bones constituting the stiffening elements or stays are then, in the course'of fabrication of the garment, inserted into the tubular element from one of its open ends. i. e. laterally of the element, in any desired number and to be disposed at any of a plurality of desired places. In accordance with the specific embodiment of my invention, such stays are enclosed and confined within strips of tape which may be then stitched down at one side of each stiffening element. "The end of the tube is then closed by ordinary stitching and the kn tting of the body of the girdle is continued in the same machine so that the tubular element constitut ng the cuff or band portion of such arment becomes an integral part of the composite girdle or garment. In other words, in accordance with my invention, the, tubular element is fabricated by knitting the same as one part of the knitting operation formv ing the entire garment.

The girdle constructed in accordance with the invention is thusformed with a tubular cufi or band element of two thicknesses of material, preferably of the jersey stitch type, the two being closed at the top by a finished mach ne selvage and at the bottom of the tube by changing fr'omjersey tubular material to half cardigan rack stitch, thus eliminating the necessity ,of sewing in the bones, constituting the stiffening elements orstays at the top and bottom. The

body material of the girdle, in accordance with my invention, is a continuation of the cuff or band constituting the upper portion of the garment, no sewing being required to join the tubular cuff to the single thickness knit material constituting the body of the garment. By constructing a garment in this manner, .I eliminate the necessity of sewing the bones and stays on the reverse side of the cuff, as has been done in certain prior art structures, which is not only un sightly, but is characterized by a tendency of the stars to-dig and cut into the body of the wearer.

A particular embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a front view of a garment constructed in accordance with my invention, as it appears on the body of the wearer; Fig. 2 is a plan view of a strip of boning constituting the stiffening element; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the strip of boning of Fig. 2 secured within two strips of tape form'- ing a pocket therefor within which pocket the boning is secured by a line of stitching completely'surrounding the same; Fig. 4 is a face view of a portion of the tubular element and adjacent garment body portion showing the manner of insertion of the stiffening elements into such tubular element; Fig. "5 is an enlarged detail showing the stiffening elements in position within the tubular portion with part of the tube cut away so as to show the manner of securement of the stay within the tube; and Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, in i which similar reference characters identify similar parts in the several views, the girdle type of garment, in the construction of which my invention has been embodied, is constituted of a body encircling portion 1, which portion is preferably formed of material capable of stretching simultaneously in two directions, as: is well known in the art. Along the bottom peripheral edge of the body encircling portion 1, is a portion 8 of similar knit material which is more.tightly knit so as to constitute a confining strip adapted to encircle the thighs of the wearer., The upper portion of the garment is constituted of a section 9 which comprises the tubular element of double thickness of preferably jersey material as hereinafter more fully described,

In the fabrication of my novel garment in accordance with my invention, 'the upper section 9 of the girdle is constituted of a tubular cuff having the double thickness I0 and l I finished at the upper extremity thereof by a finished machine selvage l2. The bottom edge of the tube is finished by changing from the Jersey tubular material producing the portions l0 and II to a half cardigan rack stitch, which produces a single thickness knit material extending from the bottom edge l3 of the tubular section 9 to form the body portion 1 of the garment. When the tubular section 9 has thus been produced and even before the rest of the girdle has been knit, a strip of boning I4 is positioned between two strips of tape l 5 and Hi, the boning being secured between such strips of tape by a line of stitching I! completely enclosing such strip of boning within a pocket formed by the tapes l5 and I6 and such line of stitching IT. A plurality of such stiffening elements, thus formed, in any desired number, is then inserted into the tubular section 9, laterally of the cuff formed bysuch tubular element, by being inserted into the-open end; l8 of such cuff. When the stiffening elemedts have been properly positioned along the length of such tubular element, as indicated in Fig. 4, the double thickness of tape l5 and I6, enclosing each stiffening element, is secured to the tube or cuif by a single line of stitching [9 at one side of the strip of boning I4. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that a single fine of stitching [9 'only at one side of the boning is necessary and, as a matter of fact, preferable. The composite structure thus produced is illustrated in the cut out portion ofFig. 5 and in vertical section in Fig. 6.

When the stiffening elements have thus been appropriately positioned and secured within the tubular section 9 of the garment, the end aperture I8 is closed by stitching and the knitting of the remaining portion of the body I of the girdle and of the lower point 8 is continued, the body material in the preferred embod'ment of my invention being made with a h f cardigan knit stitch.

It will be understood, of course, that while in the particular embodiment of my invention illustrated in the drawing, I have shown the upper tube or cuff element 9 as being formed integral with the remainder of the girdle, namely the body portion 1 thereof, my invention is equally capable of being'embodied in a construction in which the tubular section 9 is first completely fabricated with the stiffening elements, in accordance with rial of any particular type and as carried out by any known knitting machine.

It is obvious that while I have described a particular embodiment of my invention, various changes therein, particularly in the arrangement and configuration of the several parts thereof, may be made without departing from my invention. 4

I claim:

1. A garment of the class described comprising a body encircling portion constituted of knit material and a cuff or band member comprising a double thickness of knit material forming a flat tube, a plurality of strips of tape within said tube and a plurality of stlfl'ening elements disposed and secured in spaced relation within said tube within two' of said strips of. tape joined together by stitching and enclosing between them a strip of boning, the strips of tape being secured to the tube by a line of, stitching ex-- boning.

, 2. A garment of the class described comprising a body encircling portion constituted of knit material' capable of stretching simultaneously in two directions, and an integral cuff or band member constituting the upper p rtion of such garment, said cuff orband memb r comprising a double thickness ofknit material forming a flat tube,

tape enclosingtbetween them a strip of'boning, the boning being completely surrounded by a line of stitching passing through said tapes, thestiifening elements. so constituted being secured to the tube by a line of stitching, extendingtransversely of the tube and passing through said tapes at one side of the strip of boning.

-3. The method of producing a garment of the class described which comprises knitting a tubular element of such garment to constitute a double thickness of material, producing a pinrality of stifiening elements by enclosing strips of boning within a plurality of two layers of tape, stitching the two tapes together by a line of stitching completely surrounding the strip of boning positioned between the tapes, inserting a plurality of stiflening elements, thus formed, into said tubular element during the knitting thereof, securing said stifiening elements in spaced relation along the length of the tube by lines of stitching passing through the tapes and extending transversely of said tube, closing the end of the said tube, and continuing the knitting of the body portion of the garment so as to form the same integrally with said tubular element.

4. The method of producing a garment of the class described which comprises knitting a tubular element of such garment to constitute a double thickness of material, producing a plurality of stiffening elements by enclosing strips of hen. ing within a plurality of two layers of tape, stitching the two tapes together by a line 01' stitching completely surrounding the strip of boning positioned between the tapes, inserting a plurality of stiiiening elements, thus formed,

into said tubular elementduring the knitting thereof, securing said stiiienlng elements in spaced relation along the length of the tube by lines of stitching passing through the tapes and extending transversely of said tube, closing the end of the said tube, knitting the body portion of the garment and securing said tubular element to said body portion.

5. The method of producing a garment of the class described which comprises knitting a tubular element of such garment constituted of a double thickness of material, finishing the upper edge of said tubular element with a selvage, pro-. ducing a plurality of stifiening members by enclosing strips of boning within two layers of tape,

stitching the two tapes together by a line of stitching completely surrounding the strip of boning positioned between the tapes, so as to form a pocket therefor, within said tapes, inserting a plurality of stifl'ening members thus formed, laterally into said tuublar element, securing said stiflening members in position within the tube by lines of stitching passing through the tapes and said tube, closing the end of the said tube, and continuing the knitting of the body portion of the garment from the lower edge 01' said tubular element, until the body portion of such garment has been completed.

O'I'IO J. EDELMANN. 

